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Ahmed Saker Indie Game Developer

The document outlines the key aspects of video game development, including defining what constitutes a video game, an overview of the industry, and the development process. It discusses the core components of game development like game design, art, programming, audio, and quality assurance. The development process involves pre-production, production, and post-production stages. Programming involves sub-disciplines like gameplay, AI, tools, and graphics programming. Game engines and APIs/SDKs are also examined. The independent game development scene and resources for the game developer community are also summarized.

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Sahil Yadav
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143 views32 pages

Ahmed Saker Indie Game Developer

The document outlines the key aspects of video game development, including defining what constitutes a video game, an overview of the industry, and the development process. It discusses the core components of game development like game design, art, programming, audio, and quality assurance. The development process involves pre-production, production, and post-production stages. Programming involves sub-disciplines like gameplay, AI, tools, and graphics programming. Game engines and APIs/SDKs are also examined. The independent game development scene and resources for the game developer community are also summarized.

Uploaded by

Sahil Yadav
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ahmed Saker

Indie Game Developer


http://a-saker.blogspot.com
Outline
• Define “Video Game”
• Video Game Industry Overview
• Game Development Process :
– Game Design
• Game Genres
• Design Documents
– Game Art
• 2D
• 3D
– Programming
• Game Engines
• Programming sub-disciplines
– Audio
– QA
• The Community
Define “Video Game” ?!
• What’s the Difference between these three ?! :

A Software A Game A Movie


Here’s the difference
• An Interactive Medium :
– Interactivity is what makes games differ from
Movies and other art forms .

– The content of the game as a Medium is what


makes it differs from other software .

– And obviously they are more fun .


GAMES HAVE GOT IT ALL

Art

Game
Trivia
Science
Business
& Tech
Technically ,
Game Structure
• Games have a different structure than any other software
– Start up
– Introductory Movie
– Front End
• Game Options
• Sound Options
• Video Options
– Loading Screen
– Main Game
• Introduction
• Gameplay
– game modes
• Pause Options
– End Game Movie
– Credits
– Shut down
Game Loop
// a simple game loop in C++
int main()
{
Initialize();
while (true)
{
Process();
Update();
Render();
}
ShutDown();
}
What actually happens
While(true)
{
/* Process controller input : Checks for player’s input .. For example ,
if the player hits spacebar then make the character jump … etc*/
Process();

/* Update entities : this is where the game reacts to the changes the
player’s made as well as updates the game state */
Update();

/*Update Graphics : draw the background, draw sprites, update


HUD elements, etc */
Render();
}
Now , That we know what games are ,
let’s talk Business.
Games VS Movies (in terms of sales)

Vs

$239 million $500 million


First Week Revenue First Week Revenue
Source : Video Game Industry Trends by Ferrarra
Games Market

Source : Video Game Industry Trends by Ferrarra


Game Development Map
Game Development Scene in Egypt
A brief History
1972 : Pong (Hardware)

Classics : Atari , NES , SNES , Commodre64 , NeoGenesis ,…ets

1993 : Doom (idTech 1)

1995 : Software-Rendered Engines (CPU-only)


2007 : Unreal Engine 3

1998 : Unreal (Hardware 3D - GPU)

Two decades of GPU dependence


Indie Scene

• Obviously Independent :D .

• No publishers , may come later though.

• Low-Budget and sometimes no budget at all .

• Individuals and small teams .

• Simply , It’s the opposite to mainstream games .

• You’re your own boss .

• Seeks Innovation and explore new aspects in


game design and storytelling and even art forms .
Why indie ?!

• Though it’s very time consuming process .


• There is really no reliable financial return .
• It could drive you crazy , you do all the job .

But let’s look at the bright side :

• You’ll be working on something you really want to do .


• You’re your own boss .
• If you’re creative enough you’ll make a hit sooner or
later like this guy called “Pixel” from Japan and his hit
“Cave Story” .
Game Development Process
Game Development Process

Pitch Prototype
Pre-production (Concept GDD Project Plan (Proof of
Document ) concept)

Art Audio
Production Design Programming
Production Production
QA (Testing)

Costumer Patches and


Postproduction Maintenance
Services updates
Three Main Milestones

Gold
Beta Master
version
Alpha
Protocol
Three Categories ?!
Game Design
• The Content and Rules of the
Game .

• You describe what the game


will look and act like .

• Game Design is very critical and


requires experience and
knowledge .
Game Genres
• Can be used to describe : Gameplay , Story
and even the perspective … e.g. (FPS , RPG..)

Describes the Story Describes the Gameplay Describes the Perspective


Game Art
• 2D Art :
– Concept Art

– Sprites

– Texture Art

– UI Artist
Game Art :: 3D
Modeling

Wrapping & Texturing


Concept Art

Animation
Game Programming sub-disciplines
• Gameplay Programming

• AI Programming

• Tools Programming

• Graphics Programming
APIs and SDKs
• The difference between APIs and SDKs .

• API (Application Programming Interface) :-


– Software interfaces that OS, libraries, and services
provide
– You can take advantage of their particular features.
– XNA , DirectX and OpenGL .

• SDK (Software Development Kit) : Collection Of


libraries , APIs and tools .
Game Engines
• In-house Game Engines .
– Scimitar (Assassin’s Creed)

• Two types of Game Engines :-

– Full tool chain (UnrealEngine 3 ,Unity )

– Middleware & Integrated libraries (SDL , OGRE3D)


Programming Tools

• Unity .

• UDK .
The Community
• IGDA

• CMP :-
– Gamasutra.com
– GameCareerGuide.com

• GameDev.net

• Tigsource.com

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